A New Threat

by Elizabeth Hand

  the overhanging fungus, moving swiftly and stealthily as a stalking

  cratsch.

  Now and then a slender mushroom stalk would reach out tentatively to

  brush against his helmet, or touch his hand. Whenever this happened Boba

  would pause, holding his breath.

  But it seemed as though Malubi's spores must have warned the other

  fungus of Boba's coming. Their tendrils would only touch him. Then they

  would withdraw. Sometimes a small puff of purple would appear above him.

  Then he would see other mushroom trees ahead of him swaying gently.

  Thanks, Xeran, Boba thought. And Malubi.

  He patted the trunk of a very young malvil-tree, then stopped.

  In front of him, the mushroom forest abruptly ended. Beyond it, the

  ground looked scorched. When he looked up he saw the hovering shadows of

  Republic ships, like black clouds in the purple mist. When he looked down,

  he saw black circles where transport vehicles had landed and departed. In

  other places, there were holes and small craters left by exploding

  weaponry. Smoking bits of vegetation were elsewhere. And other things, too.

  Things Boba wished he hadn't seen.

  For reassurance he made sure the purple globe was still in his pocket.

  His hand tightened on his blaster.

  He waited, trying to figure out what to do next. There was no point

  running out into the middle of a battle. Nine-tenths of any bounty hunter's

  success is proper planning, Jango had always told him.

  "So all I need is a plan," Boba muttered.

  He squinted through the haze of smoke and spores. From here he had a

  clearer view of Wat Tambor's citadel.

  It sure didn't look any better. It was well-guarded, for one thing. In

  addition to the gigantic black spines that protruded from the fortress,

  there were droids patrolling its perimeter.

  Battle droids, Boba noted grimly. He counted thirty - not enough to

  fight a war, but more than enough to keep intruders at bay.

  There were other droids, too. Crablike defense droids swarmed around a

  triangular opening that seemed to be Mazariyan's entrance. He saw several

  hulking modified super battle droids and mounted laser towers.

  And, hovering above the peak of Wat Tambor's fortress, a great, dark,

  shapeless mass. It was like, a purplish-black thunderhead or a huge amoeba,

  floating over the battlefield.

  "What's that?" Boba adjusted the focus on his helmet, then blinked,

  feeling a faint prickling behind his eyes as the form above him took on

  more solid outlines.

  Xeran's spores were working. Suddenly he could see clearly. And what

  he saw was that the massive shape was not a cloud.

  It was a fleet of Separatist fighters, cloaked by the spore-haze. As

  Boba watched, one of the droidcommanded fighters fired upon the Republic's

  assault lines. A spurt of flame exploded from one of the trenches.

  A direct hit!

  Boba steadied himself as the impact shuddered through the ground like

  an earthquake. He looked up again, and this time could make out something

  else - a darker, misshapen silhouette that hung directly above the

  citadel's peak. Droids swarmed around it, loading it. With a shock, Boba

  suddenly realized what the huge shadowy object was.

  A ramship.

  Boba shook his head in dismayed disbelief. Robot ramships were

  manufactured in the most notorious reaches of the Outer Rim. They were

  designed and outfitted by criminal techs

  But wasn't that exactly what Wat Tambor was?

  A ramship had no organic crew. It used the hull of an abandoned -

  probably stolen - warship, with enough firepower to destroy a huge starship

  in a single explosion. The entire vessel was nothing but a massive bomb,

  piloted by a kamikaze robotic drone with no goal except destruction.

  In this case, the Republic's destruction.

  Boba craned his head back. His eyes tried to pierce the violet haze of

  Xagobah's atmosphere.

  Somewhere up there was a Republic troopship. And while Boba had no

  love for the Republic, at the moment, they shared a common enemy.

  Wat Tambor.

  And that ramship was Wat Tambor's vessel.

  The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Jango had once told his son. Boba

  had been too young then to understand those words. They sounded like a

  puzzle.

  A puzzle he had just solved.

  He saw clone troopers just within the borders of the mushroom forest.

  The Jedi General Glynn-Beti would be there somewhere, acting as commander.

  Presumably there were other Jedi as well, fighting as part of the Republic

  forces.

  But he didn't see any life-forms, human or alien, defending Mazariyan.

  No Xamsters; no humans. Not even any mercenaries from lawless places like

  Carratos or Ord Mantel!.

  Only droids.

  He's going to have that ramship smash into the Republic troopship!

  Boba sucked in his breath with excitement. Wat Tambor thinks that will end

  the siege - and it will!

  Boba looked around furtively, thinking fast.

  If Wat Tambor's vast flying bomb struck the troopship, it would

  destroy the Republic's chances of capturing the dangerous Separatist.

  It would also destroy Boba's chances of capturing Wat Tambor.

  Which meant it would destroy Boba's future as Jabba's favorite bounty

  hunter!

  Can't have that happen! Boba thought.

  But what if the ramship could somehow be commandeered into destroying

  Wat Tambor's citadel - and with it, Wat Tambor?

  Two can play this game, thought Boba. He crouched in the shadows at

  the edge of the mushroom forest. He stared up at Mazariyan.

  Two can play this game - but only one can win.

  And that one will be - me!

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  So now he had a plan. All he needed was a way to use it.

  My jet pack's no good, he thought with regret. Not enough strength or

  speed to go up against a ramship. Gotta try to find a vehicle... a speeder

  would be nice... Boba scanned the area surrounding Wat Tambor's fortress.

  He knew that Mazariyan was well-guarded by droids.

  But Wat Tambor was not a droid. And surely not all of his guards or

  accomplices were droids. They would have used some form of transport to get

  here....

  "Yeah," Boba whispered. "And that's exactly what I need."

  He started to run along the edges of the forest. He kept a close eye

  on Mazariyan, but saw nothing he could steal - er, use.

  But as he circled closer to the area behind the fortress, things began

  to look more promising. The Republic seemed to have concentrated its forces

  near the citadel's entrance. This back area was void of siege trenches.

  There were crates and cartons of supplies here, along with piles of twisted

  metal and plasteel. He saw demo droids and wrecker droids, a load-lifter

  piling big boxes near an opening. A single security drone appeared to be

  monitoring them. But it was an older model, and seemed to be busy scanning

  the area closest to the citadel's main entrance.

  This must be a freight entrance back here, thought Boba. He hesitated

  and looked for signs of hidden Republic forces, but saw none. He might be

 
; able to dodge the security drone and clear the freight entrance.

  I could try to get in that way. But what would I do once I actually

  got inside?

  He hadn't worked out that part of his plan - yet.

  Later, he thought. Quickly he turned and continued to circle the

  fortress, searching.

  And then he saw it - he almost stepped on it! Camouflaged with torn

  mushroom fronds and malvil-limbs, it was so rusty and battered that it

  blended right in.

  A swoop bike.

  Boba looked around the mushroom forest furtively. But if there were

  clone troopers nearby, they were being even more stealthy than he was: He

  saw no one. He looked up.

  And yes, the ramship was still there, like a volcanic cloud hanging

  above Mazariyan. The droids loading it were obviously close enough to see.

  through the haze. Boba glanced back at the worker droids on the ground. The

  security drone was gone - it must have continued on its own circuit of the

  fortress.

  And those other droids were all labor units. None of them would be

  programmed for surveillance or security.

  "It's now or never," Boba muttered. He paused beside the swoop bike,

  looking over his shoulder. Then he shoved aside the dried-up mushrooms and

  jumped on. "And I say - now."

  For one heart-stopping moment, he thought it wouldn't start. Then it

  sputtered and coughed. Finally, with a low buzzing sound it lurched

  forward.

  Someone's modified it so that any sound is muffled, Boba noted

  approvingly. He leaned over the controls and pulled up on the throttle. The

  swoop shot up through the malvil-trees. Not as fast as Boba would have

  liked - whoever did the modifications obviously preferred stealth over

  speed.

  Maybe they know something I don't, he thought, and looked around. The

  worker droids were still laboring mindlessly by the freight entrance. Boba

  adjusted his helmet, increasing the focus until he could just glimpse the

  front of the citadel. Nothing new there, either. Above the citadel's peak,

  the ramship hovered in place. Boba swung his swoop around, then brought it

  up to full throttle. Fungus fronds lashed at his helmet as he flew up, up.

  When he hovered just below the canopy of the forest, he turned the swoop

  and started to cruise in a careful circuit.

  Might as well do a little recon of my own, he thought. That clone

  trooper came from someplace. But where?

  In a minute he had his answer. Not too distant from Wat Tambor's

  citadel, something moved.

  Something big - something really big!

  A Republic All Terrain-Tactical Enforcer!

  "Man, they mean business," muttered Boba. That AT-TE would be loaded

  with more clone troopers - dozens of them-not to mention some serious

  firepower.

  There was no way he could commandeer an AT-TE, of course. But where

  there were incoming clone troopers, there would be Jedi nearby to command

  them. They would have vehicles of their own - gunships, starfighters, maybe

  even airspeeders.

  If I can get my hands on an airspeeder, I might be able to decoy that

  ramship back toward Mazariyan. The ramship doesn't move very fast - but in

  a speeder, I could! Then I could reach Slave I and get out of here - back

  to Jabba to claim my bounty!

  He angled closer to the AT-TE, being careful to stay out of sight.

  There were several smaller vehicles accompanying the walker and, in the

  distance, more AT-TEs.

  That's more like it, Boba thought with grim satisfaction.

  Things might not be so bleak for the Republic, after all. He adjusted

  the long-range focus on his helmet, until he could make out even more

  shadowy shapes far behind the approaching AT-TEs. Gunships, each carrying a

  payload of still more troops and walkers.

  And, sure enough, there were speeders, too - and a starfighter.

  "That'll be Glynn-Beti," said Boba. He scowled, but brought the swoop

  down lower to get a better look. As he did, something flashed past him

  Another swoop!

  "Huh?" For a second, Boba was too startled to do anything. Then he

  grabbed his blaster.

  But whoever was on the swoop wasn't intent on catching Boba. He was

  heading for the citadel.

  But not just the citadel. As Boba watched in amazement, he realized

  that he wasn't the only one who'd been coming up with a plan.

  The swoop was flying up - straight toward Wat Tambor's ramship!

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  "Great minds think alike!" Ygabba used to tell Boba, joking.

  But right now, watching the other swoop flying at the ramship, Boba

  thought maybe this particular idea hadn't been such a great one. The swoop

  looked like a squirmite attacking a sandcrawler.

  "He's doomed," Boba groaned.

  He'd had only a glimpse of the person flying it. But a glimpse was all

  he needed to recognize him. Ulu Ulix!

  Boba had met the young alien back on the Candaserri. Of course, Ulu

  hadn't known Boba by his real name - Boba had called himself Teff, and had

  said he was an orphan from Raxus Prime. He'd guessed Ulu was about the same

  age as he was, though Ulu had horns and three eyes. They'd been friendly -

  well, as friendly as Boba could be to anyone back on the Candaserri.

  He'd never recognize me now, Boba thought with pride. Not with my

  Mandalorian helmet on, and my body armor.

  As Boba watched Ulu's swoop approach the ramship, he remembered the

  other thing about the three-eyed alien.

  Ulu Ulix was a Padawan, a Jedi apprentice - and his Jedi Master was

  Glynn-Beti!

  Quickly Boba looked back to where the AT-TE was moving in the forest.

  A starfighter kept pace with it, high above the tops of violet malvil-

  trees. If Glynn-Beti was in that fighter, she must suspect the ramship was

  headed for the Republic's assault ship. But did she know her Padawan was

  headed for the ramship?

  Boba wondered if Glynn-Beti was crazy - or if Ulu was.

  He didn't get to wonder long.

  KA-FL000SHH!

  Meters from where Boba's swoop hovered, a malvil-tree exploded. There

  was a second flash of blue flame. Boba was spattered with purple gunk.

  He wiped fungus goo from his helmet, yanked on the throttle, and

  swerved away from the forest.

  He needed a better view of what was happening:

  What he saw wasn't good, at least not for the Padawan. The sentry

  droids had spotted Ulu Ulix!

  Boba's swoop shuddered as another burst of flame struck a giant

  mushroom not far off. BLAM!

  The mushroom exploded. Fiery blobs of fungus flew everywhere, setting

  other trees aflame. The droids were firing! Boba's swoop shot straight up,

  safely out of range. He was close to the citadel now - too close, probably

  - but the droids weren't firing on Boba.

  At least, not yet. Boba frowned. What - who - were they after? He

  risked bringing his swoop down lower, and nearer to the fortress. From here

  he had a clear view of the droids below, laser fire crisscrossing the air

  as the Republic's troops began to counterattack.

  But the droids weren't firing on the Republic troops.

  Their
target was Ulu Ulix.

  Boba swerved abruptly as a blast tore the air just meters away. When

  he looked back, he saw the ramship give a sudden surge upward.

  "They've released the ramship!" he exclaimed, just as the other swoop

  suddenly shot toward the massive vessel. Boba waited for a volley of fire

  from the ramship to destroy the swoop.

  But the ramship didn't alter its swift course one meter. Instead it

  sped upward, oblivious to Ulu Ulix pursuing it.

  And why should that surprise Boba? The ram-ship had a drone-mind.

  Nothing could cause it to alter its course. Attempting to lure or attack it

  had obviously been a really, really bad idea.

  That could have been me, Boba thought.

  He watched grimly as Ulu's swoop dipped and swerved clumsily. The

  alien was trying to avoid the barrage of fire from below. But his swoop

  didn't seem to have any more thrust than Boba's.

  "Still, he could fly it better," Boba said.

  He clung tightly to his swoop, flying it closer still to the citadel's